Director - Mann Singh Manku
Cast - Harshad Arora, Preetika Rao, Naved Aslam, Ritu Raj Singh, Suchitra Pillai, Riva Bubber.
Story so far -
Beintehaan which is a Muslim social drama is a STORY OF TWO COUSINS who get married under odd circumstances and much against their wishes. Zain (Harshad Arora) is the lovable young son of Usman Abdullah (Naved Aslam) & Suraiya (Suchitra Pillai) who live a lavish life in Mumbai while Aaliya (Preetika Rao) is the adorable daughter of Ghulam Haider (Ritu Raj Singh) & Shabana (Riva Bubber) and is raised in middle class upbringings in Bhopal. Both Zain and Aaliya have a hate-hate relationship since childhood and have grown up with the same feelings in mind.
Zain who is studying abroad for many years comes back to Mumbai at the same time when Aaliya is supposed to get married to Zeeshan in Bhopal. She mistakes Zain's photo to be that of her fiance Zeeshan whom she has never seen earlier and ends up liking him when he too comes visiting Bhopal for her engagement and marriage ceremony. However, once she comes to know of his real identity, they both indulge in pranks yet again to pull the other down. In the midst of all this, Zeeshan's parents and his uncle think that they both are having an affair but everyone keeps quite because of Zain's father who is a rich businessman, willing to spend for Aaliya's marriage.
Zain's mother too is not happy with the closeness that she sees between Zain and Aaliya and plans to gifts Zain a Bangkok trip so that he stays away from Bhopal during the wedding. Zain who is enjoying his stay in Bhopal is reluctant at first but agrees to go as per his mom's wish.
What works -
Harshad and Preetika who both make their television debut with this show are one beautiful looking couple. Harshad has not only good looks along with a good voice and style, he is quite confident when it comes to acting and dialogue delivery and doesn't look like a newcomer at all. Preetika is a beauty and reminds one so much of her popular sister Amrita Rao. The couple is sure to be a hit Jodi with the audience very soon.
While Naved Aslam and Ritu Raj show considerable restraint in their performances as is required, Suchitra Pillai as the celebrity chef who is also a rich mom of two young sons is a strong character and is a pleasant change from the typical gharelu saas. Riva Bubber who comes back in a daily show after a long time looks and acts her part well especially her perfect dialogue delivery.
The nok-jhok between the two wives of Suraiya's elder son (Vivek Madan) is quite entertaining. It is also because one of them Nafisa (Gunjan Vijaya) is quite good looking and uses her charm well while the other Jahaan (Namrata Pathak) is a talented actress and they both keep the audience engaged.
What does not work -
The basic premise of the show which is set in the first couple of episodes is quite shaky due to the many bloopers that abound, with the main being the case of mistaken identity! On one hand we see video chats between Aaliya and her maternal uncle and between Zain and his father but then no one from either side has seen Zain or Aaliya after they have grown up. With so many means of communication how come they both have still not seen each other and isn't it convenient to mail a pic instead of couriering a photograph that too when they are seen communicating on laptops and enjoying video chats? Anyway, Aaliya sees Zain's pic and thinking it is her fiance Zeeshan starts liking him, whereas as per his promise to his father Zain reaches Bhopal to lend a helping hand financially to Aaliya's family but instead of introducing himself to Aaliya just gets a yes' from her to accept the money while she is all the time thinking he is her fianc Zeeshan asking for her opinion on marrying him! How utterly childish is that?
And then, when Zain comes to stay at Aaliya's house since it is also his pufi's (paternal aunt) house but Aaliya doesn't seem to know anything about it. Many a times they also come face to face during those two days but never does it bother Aaliya that the boy she thinks she is to marry is staying in her house itself? How is it possible that despite staying in the same house she doesn't have any doubts?
While everyone around like Zeeshan and his family and Zains's mom Suraiya too feel that Zain and Aaliya are a little bit too close nobody else seems to notice it. Least of all the couple who come close on various occasions and there expressions when they are close tell another story altogether. Even as Zain looks as if he is attracted towards Aaliya, even she allows him to come close to her and looks as if she is smitten by him. Well, no wonder many of them misunderstand them as a cosy twoseome.
Technically, many of the scenes have an abrupt end to it and it is obvious cut and start when the next scene comes on air. Even though we all know that all the shows are shot on sets, here the sets have too much of color which give them an artificial look. Also Preetika Raoneeds to work on her dialogue delivery which comes across as halting and lacks fluency.
Our take -
The show has all chance to do well with the sole reason being the good looking couple who look absolutely fresh in their debut on Indian Television. The makers need to work more on their chemistry and not take viewers for granted while narrating the story. More care should be given to managing the flow of the story and avoid bloopers in the future.
And finally we can only hope that once the two are married and come back to Barkat Mahal which is shown to be Zain's palatial house in Mumbai it doesn't become yet another saas bahu saga.
Indian Mythology
